I’m starting to see spiritual struggles as much less ideal. I imagine that God has a certain number of angels that carry out His will and they can each only be in one place at one time. Though they may be more powerful and intelligent than us, and don’t suffer from doubt or insecurities of their worth, I bet they have spiritual vulnerabilities and psychological scars from difficult histories. I would bet some of them are hard headed, annoying, hard to work with, and they make mistakes like we do. (reminds me of the angels in the movie, Dogma)
In fact see what is said in Job 4:18, ”Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:”
On top of that I assume my own psychoses and my ancestral curses and the rules of spiritual battle make answering my prayers, and other actions in the spiritual world much more complicated.
Also I think God has to find ways to help us while working around the free will he promised to us and others.
When we pray a request it is like a 911 call. The phone call has to connect. The best, available unit must be assigned. Then they have to fight their way through obstacles and delays and have to find you. But it’s even more complicated because this is all happening in a war zone. They have to figure out how to penetrate enemy lines and where to go where they will receive the least amount of assault. They must get inside and diagnose the source of the problem. Then they must strategize a plan and execute your request- that is if they ever get there.
In Daniel 10, a glorified being (maybe Angel, maybe Jesus) says he has come to answer Daniel’s prayers but that “the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help…” So it sounds like the good angel (or Jesus) had to really struggle to get free from powerful princes of the counterforce.
So the next time it seems like no one’s fighting your battles in life, give ‘em a break, and thank God for them and continue to pray to strengthen them. But we must remember that we just can’t get angry at God because it isn’t happening fast enough. Wars have ebbs and flows and are rarely won in a day.
Raw Spoon
